“It was your hound that got frisky with Luna,” Ms. Beasley snipes.
“Your dog shouldn’t have been outside in heat,” Mr. Smith counters.
Ah, puppy love.
I click my pen and put it in my pocket. “Okay, I take it by this scene that we are checking for puppies?”
“Yes! Luna was in our yard and we just adopted her, so she still needed to get, well… you know.”
“Okay, and Nacho?” I turn to Mr. Smith.
“He’s a stray that wandered into my yard a few times and I decided to keep him a few months back. Didn’t cross my mind, to be honest.” He straightens his stance.
“Well. If Luna is knocked up then I hope you take responsibility,” Ms. Beasley tells him.
I hold my hands up. “Why don’t we first check that there are puppies? This happened a month ago you think?”
Everyone nods. I roll out the ultrasound machine from the corner and smile to myself at this amusing situation.
Gosh, I’m going to miss these scenes.
Two minutes later, we are looking at a few heartbeats on the screen.
“Congratulations. Looks like you both will be grandparents at your young age,” I joke.
“Great, just great,” Ms. Beasley speaks to the ceiling. Nacho goes to lick Luna’s face. Kind of cute, actually.
Mr. Smith seems to find this situation humorous. “We can discuss logistics over wine,” he tells Ms. Beasley so matter-of-factly and I have to laugh at this romance unfolding. He turns his attention to me. “Dr. Call, will you be here for the birth? Can you tell when it’ll be?”
I lean against the counter and cross my arms. “In a month or so. But I’m not sure I will be here. I might be going away for a year on a fellowship in Alaska. A shame as I want to see this scene unfold.” I smirk at Mr. Smith who gives me a wink.
“Oh? But I don’t want someone else to take care of Luna.” Ms. Beasley shows me her disappointment, and I can understand that she wouldn’t want a stranger to help with her dog.
“Alaska? Why would you head out there? We have plenty of animals around here,” Mr. Smith reminds me.
Just in that moment, the assistant comes running into the room.
“Abby, it’s urgent!”
Quickly, I follow the assistant to the parking lot. People are gathered around a pick-up truck with two farmers standing in the back of the truck. When I hop into the truck, I see in front me a rather large moose lying wounded. He whimpers but seems almost sedated.
“What the hell?” I exclaim as I lean down to touch the animal.
One of the men is chewing on a toothpick. “We found him on the road two miles up.”
I look up at him. “You didn’t just leave him there and call animal control or the park ranger?”
“Nah. Thought this was better. Someone mentioned you saved a deer once.”
It was one time.
Looking at the large animal, I see that his leg is hurt. I tell the assistant what supplies I need, and she runs off. The animal looks like he’s going to be okay, just need to bandage his leg.
“You’re going to have to call the park ranger. We can’t keep him here. When he’s fully recovered, he will cause havoc for everyone in this town,” I explain, and to be honest, I was hit in the stomach by a cow once, I can only imagine a moose is worse.
Twenty minutes later, I walk to the hallway sink of the clinic. Passing the waiting room where someone has a pet pig, and another has a pet parrot in a cage. I throw my gloves into the bin and turn the faucet on to wash my hands.
What a day, and it isn’t even eleven in the morning. Romance amongst the dogs and their owners and a moose in my parking lot. I look at the wall near the sink and smile when I see the crayon drawing on the wall from Theo. He drew a picture of Romeo, and I guess that three-legged brown-haired stick figure is me. A firefly dances inside me every time I catch a glimpse of the picture. Looking at the corner on the floor, I see Romeo who is in the middle of his morning nap.
I’m going to miss all of this.
I guess on the fellowship, I will have less interaction with people as it’s not pets that I will be practicing on. No, it’s wild animals such as elk, moose, wild birds, and maybe a bear or wolf. Funny, I already saw a moose and pig today, and I am still able to head to Smokey Java’s later for a coffee and sandwich. Something tells me that I won’t get that option where I’m going.
There isn’t a Lucas there either.
A year ago, going to Alaska was what I wanted. Now… well, for something that I thought I wanted, I keep doubting it and questioning it.
It isn’t just because of Lucas. I established something for myself before Lucas Kade waltzed into my exam room. This clinic is mine; this town is my home, and Romeo I adopted from my own choice. I didn’t have any of these things when I first divorced, and I was looking for an adventure. But I found these things and made them my own. I am different now; I have a different life.
And in this life. I don’t think I want to go to Alaska. Not when I have everything I want already.
I just saved a freaking moose!
I don’t need to go on a big adventure.
Instantly, I head to the reception desk and grab my phone off the charger. My fingers type away on the phone screen and I hit send with a feeling of confidence with my decision. But as I hit send, Nate’s name flashes across my screen. Why is Lucas’s brother calling me at this time of day?
I swipe and answer.
“Hey, Nate,” I greet him as my hand finds my forehead.
“Abby… uhm, Lucas has had an accident—” I drop the phone before I hear anything more.
I’m positive that I still have feet, but I do not feel them. My chest has a striking pain that is about to make my heart crack.
I make it to the emergency room in 11 minutes, because I bypassed a few stop signs. Immediately, I run to the desk.
“Lucas Kade, where is he?” I ask, panicked.
The lady behind the desk looks up from the computer. “Are you family?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. She’s family,” Nate assures her as his strong arm grabs my elbow and guides me down the hall.
“I guess I was Lucas’s next of kin. I inherited that from his divorce, lucky me,” Nate quips, and I don’t understand how he can be so relaxed.
“Is he…?” My voice is shaky.
Nate indicates to the room. “He’s resting. It was a car accident, but he should be on the mend in no time.”
I don’t even wait; I rush into the room to find Lucas lying there with a bandage on his head and connected to a machine that measures his heart rate.
“Lucas,” I cry as I walk to him and sit on the chair next to his bed near his head.
“Abby.” He flinches in pain and a groan escapes him as he tries to adjust himself in bed.
My hands go out to touch his arm. “Don’t move. You need to rest.”
“Abby, I’m sorry I was—”
“I’m not going,” I state firmly. “I’m not going to Alaska… I already informed the fellowship by e-mail, right before Nate called me actually.”
Even hurt, he tries to protest. “Abby, I was wrong. We can do long-distance—”
I take his hand in mine and I squeeze it. “No. I am not going. I wanted to go when I applied, but it doesn’t excite me in the same way anymore. I’m at a different place now in my life… I like this place.”